Maybe Not Quite so Alone

The Beginning

Another day of patrol.

Foreigners had come from the sky and it was my job to make sure they weren't up to anything.

It is the sixth day since they arrived. My hideout was placed strategically, being far enough to see what's happening and have time to warn the boss and still managing to be out of sight.

There has been a few instances where one of the foreigners whipped around to look my way, assuming they saw me from the corner of their eye.

All they seemed to do was look at their equipment and pick pieces from the ground. And as the land started to darken they would hide away, only to reappear at light and do the same thing as before.

There were six of them, and they looked pretty ridiculous if you asked me. Large heads and bulky bodies that didn't look normal.

I assumed they could talk to each other somehow, maybe through telepathy. Today, only four went out. One went to the large and tall thing they brought with them, another picked up more pieces of dirt, the other two started doing something with more things they brought with them.

Everything was going fine until I noticed the shift in the wind. I knew what was coming next. I started packing up my stuff, and noticed as one last check that they were also hiding.

I lifted up the hatch and ducked inside. It's positioned as a natural camouflage as the ground covers it once the hatch is closed. I locked the hatch, I headed toward the voice combobulator and recorded a message to the boss, sending it before the storm would become interference.

I knew what to expect, as the atmosphere had changed so suddenly, the storm is bound to be very serious. I switched on the barriers for minimal damage and braced myself as the timer ticked down.

Sure enough, the pounding of the merciless wind rattled the shelter momentarily before the barriers kicked in.

I sighed, now I have to wait the storm out. Easiest way for that to happen is to sleep it off. I walked into the corner, where my bedding hung between the walls. I slipped in, the tendrils slowly wrapped themselves around me in a tender embrace. I quickly fell asleep.

----

I woke up to beeping from the barriers. The tendrils slowly released themselves from around my body and I placed my delicate feet on the metallic floor. Stepping toward the control panel, the flashing button was green, the storm was over. I knew I had to continue my job. I shut off the button and opened the hatch, squinting against the dust that flooded in. It was light out, the storm had lived through the dark. I climbed out of the hatch and shut it, the dust naturally falling over it leaving only the handle visible. The handle was disguised as a rock, which means no suspicion from the foreigners. I peaked over the hill.

Silence. Further inspection aroused surprise, as the big tall thing they brought with them is gone. The smaller but round one was still there though. I remembered the report say that they came in something similar to the taller thing, so the only logical explanation here is that they left. But, I know my orders, further inspection is mandatory.

Once again I flung open the hatch, for once not caring about the thud that occurred from the hatch door hitting the rocks and sand at such a force, and swung myself down, not bothering to close it. I raced over to the machine my commanders gave me and raced back outside. This time I bothered to close the hatch, a much louder clunk resounded than the thud beforehand. In almost childish excitement from the joy and possible promotion I could receive for this piece of information I switched it on. Bits and bobs glowed a colour close to my skin but more bright and it seemed to come alive. A small projection of the smaller thing came into view. I knew to search this place because this is where they would disappear when it went dark. It scanned for a while before a conclusion popped up. No life forms detected. YES! Commander is going to be so happy about this! I almost jumped up and down from excitement. This was my favourite part of my job. I once again jumped through the latch and hurriedly but carefully typed down a report telling Commander of the situation and requesting that I can do some investigating. Now all I can do is wait.... Or jump around in excitement. I think I'm going for the second option.